Eric Church‘s first solo song in three years has arrived at a critical time in his home state.
The Granite Falls, North Carolina, native released “Darkest Hour (Helene Edit)” Friday and announced that he’s donating all of his publishing royalties to Hurricane Helene relief efforts in North Carolina.
“We were going to wait to release music until next year, but it just didn’t feel right to wait with this song. Sometimes you give songs their moment and sometimes they find their own moment,” Eric says.
“The message of [‘Darkest Hour’] specifically in this time is about Hurricane Helene and the people that need help, but in a broader view, it’s about any challenging times that we have in our life, which we’ll all have. And it’s always important to know that in your darkest hour, there are people that will come running, there are people that will help,” the singer shares.
“This song, ‘Darkest Hour,’ was the best way I could think to try to help. We’ve been helping with boots on the ground efforts, but this is something that will live beyond just the immediate recovery,” he adds. “This is not a quick thing to fix, so hopefully ‘Darkest Hour’ will be able to contribute to that for a long time to come. This song goes to my home, North Carolina, now and forever.”
Eric’s Chief Cares will also provide support to “all states and communities affected from Appalachia to the Gulf,” per a press release.
You can listen to “Darkest Hour (Helene Edit)” now on all digital platforms.
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